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Wrongfully Accused?

The cases I like most are those in which the client believes he or she has been wrongfully accused. Whereas every case gets my full attention, it is the wrongfully accused case that both the client and the attorney seem to fight harder to get to the truth. In General Sessions Court, the client is not willing to take the plea agreement offered by the Assistant District Attorney (DA) and he or she gets me more facts, documentation, names of witnesses, etc. to aid in his or her defense.

Sometimes being wrongfully accused comes from overzealous law enforcement. If the alleged offender is found guilty of the alleged crime, then the means to achieve that result are often overlooked. Sometimes, the police are so out of control that it takes a lot of courage to make one’s story known. Take for example, David Eckert, who had been convicted in 2008 for drugs and was stopped recently. Even though the search found no drugs, the police took him to a nearby hospital where the doctor refused to do a forcible search of the rectum. He was then taken 50 miles to another emergency room where doctors took X-rays of the abdomen and performed a rectal examination. No drugs were found. Again another rectal exam followed by three enemas to force a bowel movement in the presence of a nurse and police man. After 13 hours, two rectal exams, three enemas, two X-rays and colonoscopy, the hospital billed David Eckert $6,000. His lawsuit settled with the city and county for $1.6 million. (New York Times, Sunday, January 20, 2014, p. 15.)

I believe that we have a fundamental right to have dignity and be treated with humanity.